Ebola: Kwara Polytechnic To Screen Students, Staff

The returning and fresh students of the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin will be subjected to Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) screening whenever the school opens for the 2014/ 2015 academic session

The Rector of the polytechnic, Alhaji Mas’ud Elelu made this disclosure in Ilorin, during a sensitisation training on the control of Ebola disease organised by the school for its staff.

He added that, in addition to the various sensitisation programme lined up for both staff and students of the institution, the staff of the polytechnic will still under go Ebola Virus screening exercise.

To achieve this, Elelu said that a committee has been put in place “to liaise with the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) on how to bring in some of those screening equipment before the students resume.

“And when the students come, we will screen them and also give them proper lecture to sensitize them on the Ebola virus. We have proper plan to screen all students, even the staff as soon as we get the equipment. And if we cannot lay our hands on the equipment, we can hire from those that have the screenings equipment.

He added, “though the federal government has assured us of safety on the issue of Ebola Virus, but we still believe prevention is better than cure. On our own we decided we should bring all information about the deadly diseases closer to our staff and our community in order to be able to prevent ourselves from it.”

In his earlier lecture, one of the resource persons, Dr. Abayomi Fadeyi, Consultant and Infections Disease Physician from the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) said Ebola Virus Disease was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan in 1976

He described Ebola as the most deadliest disease among the Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers and has no cure and preventive vaccine.